Kyara Broady
Copper Stream/ E Band
Biochemistry Quarter 3 Benchmark

Cotinine: A Chemical no one knows

Abstract

Cotinine is a chemical that is found in cigarettes. In side of a cigarette there is nicotine and in nicotine there is a chemical called Cotinine. Cotinine is a strong chemical that can stay in your body for up to 24 hours. It can cause some serious damage to a person’s life and it can also he helpful at the same time. It is just used a lot to measure the amount of smoke that enters a persons body. But too much cotinine inside your body can he very harmful.

If you have too much cotinine in your body it can cause a pregnant person to lose a baby and if not possibly make that baby mentally retarded. It can also cause cancer and all the other harmful things from smoking period. Even a person who is a victim of second hand smoke can have somewhat the same cotinine level as a person who smokes.

Seeing as though this chemical is in nicotine and nicotine is found in tobacco products this chemical should be band. No one really know the dangers of cotinine and cigarettes especially the ones who are smokers. If this chemical were to be band then we would have a healthier environment and healthier people

Background: Cotinine

Cotinine is a chemical made by the body by nicotine found in cigarettes and tobacco. It is used to measure the grade of tobacco smoking. Meaning the more nicotine you smoke the more cotinine there will be in your body. It is not that really harmful it just basically showing now much tobacco enters your body. But there is some armful things from cotinine, pregnant women with a high cotinine level can have a miscarriage or a mentally retarded child. If you are smoking something with methol then the cotinine will then stay in your system longer. Cotinine has some positive effects too, it can increase memory and can possibly treat schizophrenia. But cotinine may contribute to the Alzhemier’s disease. It has good and bad effects.

Human Effects of Cotinine

Cotinine is has its ups and downs. If you have often smoke cigarettes and other tobacco products you are most likely to have a very high cotinine level, because cotinine comes from nicotine. So most people get a cotinine test to see how much smoke is really entering their bodies. So if your cotinine level is high it can cause a pregnant woman to have a premature baby and a high risk at dieing. It can also make a baby mentally instable. Also from having too much smoke and cotinine in your system it can cause lung cancer and a high risk of dieing. Also if you are a victim of second hand smoke that means you can also have the same high cotinine level as a person who does smoke, it is just as serve.

Environmental Effects

Cotinine can be harmful to the environment because nicotine is harmful for the environment. Everyone knows what cigarettes do to the environment. I can kill living things such as plants and trees. I pollutes the air and

Synthesis/ Production

Cigarettes are basically made from a plant (the taste varies with the place). This leaf that is used to make the cigarettes has a very addictive and toxic drug called nicotine. And in this drug it is cotinine, it is just a chemical that is in nicotine. It is a good and bad part of nicotine it can help your memory and it can hurt your brain. It is also the major metabolite of nicotine, which accumulates in the body. Doctors have cotinine tests to determine how much smoke you have in the body. Cotinine is not detectable for at least 24 hours it has a life to 16 to 19 hours so it is detectable for 4-7 days

Economic/ Political

The chemical cotinine is not illegal, it is legal. It is not band in the United Sates. It is legal because the government really see cigarettes as non-harmful. They are sold everyone but no one knows that is extremely harmful to your health. So basically wherever cigarettes and nicotine are legal so it cotinine.

Summary

In conclusion factories spend millions of American dollars to make and import cigarettes. Which would necessarily be possibly without cotinine. If this chemical were band we would be saving millions of dollars and it would improve on the hundred of thousand of people who smokes life span and the people who witness second hand smoke. The world be would much easier and safer if this chemical were not to be used.